Owner Involvement in Construction at a National Laboratory
In a construction project, the contractor and the owner each have a responsibility for ensuring the health and safety of personnel on a project site. The contractor has the responsibility for ensuring that the provisions of OSHA'S safety and health regulations are followed and that the work is conducted in a safe and well thought out manner (Kohn 1996). The owner has a responsibility for disclosing to the contractor those owner-controlled hazards that are present in the work area due to ongoing and past operations (OSHA 1997). With the owner taking an active role in disclosing the potential hazards, the contractor is able to account for, plan, and mitigate potential health and safety issues during the performance phase of the project. At Sandia National Laboratories, this disclosure is made early in the project through the use of processes developed specifically for this purpose.